An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Ochse

by Friedrich Kluge

Ochse, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German ohse, Old High German ohso, masculine, ‘ox’; corresponding terms occur in all the Old Teutonic dialects; Gothic aukhsa, Old Icelandic oxe, Anglo-Saxon oxa, English ox, Dutch os, Old Saxon ohso, ‘ox.’ The common Teutonic ohsan- (from pre-Teutonic uksén-) is primitively cognate with Sanscrit ukšán, ‘bull,’ the words Kuh and Stier being also common to the Aryan group. The Sanscrit root is ukš, ‘to spurt out,’ or ukš, ‘to grow strong, grow up.’ If the latter is correct, Ochse is connected with wachsen, yet it may be a masculine form of Latin vacca, ‘cow.’